Down The Well, Down Again
by Wargh
Summary: Why does everyone die? Isn't there something you can do about it? What if you were given a chance to right a wrong, but no one could know? What if you were given a second chance at love? Would you take it? Or let it go? Canon .sort-of . Inutaisho/Kagome.
1. Death

Down The Well, Down Again

Chapter One: Death

Wargh

AN: Since I don't know much about writing battle scenes (so I probably won't ever type up anything other than snippets of the final battle), nor about the tail-end of the Inuyasha anime series (seeing as I haven't seen it yet), please forgive any and all mistakes and the creative liberties I have taken. And yes, I know that his true name isn't ever mentioned, I simply prefer calling him Touga (rather than the spelling Toga which reminds me way too much of clothing:)

As the dust settled down to the ground, Kagome, in her torn, blood-stained clothing, rose to her feet and stared at the devastation around her. Something flashed in the corner of her eye, and as she turned, Kagome saw Sesshoumaru's bloody form stretched out on the barren ground. Tears streaming down her face, she ran over to his prone form and knelt at his side. Sesshoumaru wasn't exactly her friend, but Kagome held a great respect for the Lord of the West, and had forgiven him long ago for trying to kill her.

Kagome pressed her fingers against his neck for a moment then drew them away, painful sobs racking her body. Brushing her hand across his face, she closed his sightless eyes and rose to her feet. Suddenly something latched onto her leg and when she looked down, she saw Rin clinging to her leg and sobbing heartbreakingly. Kneeling back down, Kagome embraced the girl tightly, Rin's tears soaking through her shirt.

"Why Lady Kagome, why is Lord Sesshoumaru dead?" She cried out forlornly.

"Why is everything Rin loves taken from her?" Kagome clutched the little girl close as Rin's body shook from suppressed pain.

"First Rin's family was taken from her by bandits, then Rin's life was taken by wolves. Now Lord Sesshoumaru is... Lord Sesshoumaru is..." Kagome's heart broke at the child's words.

"Rin, I..." Kagome cried harder as she tried to find something to say to console the devastated young girl. Realizing there was no way to ease the pain of Rin mourning the man she considered her father, she held her tighter.

"Lady Kagome promise... promise Rin that you will never leave her. Promise Rin that you will never die and leave Rin alone, because Rin doesn't want anyone else to die!" The young girl sobbed out as she clutched the only person she had left in the world. Kagome looked down at the young girl, and not knowing what else to say, whispered

"I promise."

Inuyasha sat on the ground, his back up against the still transformed Tessaiga, blood dripping from multiple wounds as he panted in exhaustion. Placing his hand on Tessaiga's hilt, he boosted himself onto his feet and surveyed the bloody battlefield. His eyes were drawn to a red mound in the grass, and he dragged his body to it as fast as he could, using Tessaiga as a crutch. Falling beside it, his heart stopped as he realized that it was Kikyou, her once white top stained with her heart's blood. Sobbing brokenly, he picked up her body and cradled it to his chest.

"Don't leave me Kikyou, I love you god damn it. I need you beside me, even if I truly have to follow you into the depths of hell." He sobbed out, his tears falling onto her face. Suddenly he felt a hand ghost along his cheek. Opening his golden eyes, he peered into Kikyou's coal black orbs, pain-free in her last moments of life.

"Kikyou, I..." Kikyou softly pressed her fingers to his lips, silencing him.

"Shh, it's alright my love, don't cry for me. Instead, let me see your beautiful smile before I die." Inuyasha smiled just for her, his heart breaking on the inside. Pressing his lips to hers, he kissed her until he felt her go limp. Clutching her body to his chest, he screamed out Kikyo's name, the anguish in his voice breaking the heart of anyone who heard his cry.

Sango turned her head, trying to see beyond Kilala's fur where her face was currently buried, her body stretched out across Kilala's back. Raising her head just the slightest bit, she saw two familiar figures slumped together on the ground. Unable to move herself because of her broken leg, she urged Kilala on with a desperate cry. As Kilala stopped beside the two men, Sango watched, tears running down her cheek, as Miroku knelt over her brother and said a prayer for the safe passage of his soul.

"Miroku." She called out when he had finished his prayer.

"Help me down please. I need... I need to... say goodbye." Miroku stood up and gently lifted Sango's battered body off of Kilala's back and carefully set her down next to her brother's lifeless body. Picking up one of his limp hands, Sango tried to smile through her tears.

"Kohaku, I'm so sorry. I promised that I would save you, that I would free you from this curse. I have failed you my brother." Sango felt a hand rest on her shoulder, and turned her head to look at Miroku who was crying too.

"No Sango, you didn't fail him, look at him. He is finally at peace, he is finally free." Miroku said softly, the tears in his eyes not for Kohaku, but for the grieving sister he had left behind. Sango turned her face back to her brother, and for the first time noticed the happy smile crossing his face. Smiling for real this time, she whispered

"You're right Miroku, he truly is free."


	2. Life

Down The Well, Down Again

Chapter Two: Life

Wargh

**EDIT:** I edited the part 'dead clay pot' out because as **ArghZombies** pointed out to me, Kagome wasn't very likely to say something like that. I apologize for my mistake, here's the edited version.

AN: I forgot the disclaimer in the first chapter so here it is, not mine. I wanted to apologize because the first chapter was so short, I was originally gonna put each death in a different chapter but that was stretching it out too long. I'm also sorry if this chapter is a bit screwy at first, it's 1 a.m. here and I just finished a bottle of coke and got my basket of chocolate that I've been waiting for since Easter, so I am thoroughly sugared up. Hooray for Reese's ReesterBunnies! This is an actual conversation my friend/ beta reader/ idea bouncer-offer and I had.

M: now i gots to kill someone else hmm kohaku? or miroku? or neither? which one?

D: Sango (. .)

M: noes i not kill sango

D: Why not?

M: i wont kill sango cuz miroku would try to grope her dead butt

D: xd

M: i can just see him doing that

D: me too

M: "Oh Sango." He cried, holding her lifeless hand. "I care not that you are dead, so please bear my children!" GROPEGROPE

Keening his anguish, Inuyasha released his deathgrip on Kikyou's lifeless form and laid her body gently on the ground. Reaching for Tessaiga, he was about to raise himself off the ground when the sword pulsed. Glaring down at his obstinate sword, he tried to stand once again but failed.

"What in the hell you stupid sword, the last time you were this big of a pain in my ass was when we fought Tenseiga..." Inuyasha's jaw dropped as he realized what he had just said. He quickly reached for Tessaiga, and this time managed to stand up. Once again using his sword as a crutch, he dragged his body as fast as he could to where Kagome and Rin still knelt on the ground weeping. Dropping Tessaiga unceremoniously onto the dirt, Inuyasha reached out to grasp Tenseiga only to be repelled by a barrier. Placing his singed fingers into his mouth, he glared at Tenseiga and reached out with his other hand, determined to retrieve the sword no matter what.

"God damn it you stupid sword!" He yelled angrily at Tenseiga, as he blew cool air onto his scorched fingers. Kagome glared at him in disbelief.

"Inuyasha how could you? Your brother is dead and all you care about is his sword?" Kagome tried to yell this, but instead it came out in a whisper, hoarse from all her crying. Inuyasha looked down at his brother's lifeless body.

"Keh, the bastard deserved it anyway." Kagome was furious, her rage making her forget all her wounds as she rose to her feet.

"SIT!" She screamed out, forcing Inuyasha face down into the largest hole ever.

"You heartless asshole! The only family you have left is dead and all you do is insult them? I thought Sesshoumaru was wrong about you, but you know what? I was the one that was wrong! Sesshoumaru was right, you're a selfish, immature little child! _'Poor me, I lost both my parents and my girlfriend was killed, wah wah wah!' _Well you know what Inuyasha? I'm sick of it! I'm sick of dealing with your ordering me around and I've had it up to here with your petty jealousy! So you know what? I wish you eternal happiness with her!" She screamed the angry words at him, hatred in her eyes. Suddenly a dark violet light bathed the field and a piercing scream rang out. Inuyasha turned to face the sound and saw Kikyou's body hovering slightly below the tainted Shikon jewel. Inuyasha turned back to face Kagome, rage etched in his face.

"You bitch, what did you do?" He snarled at her, his hand grasping Tessaiga's hilt. He was about to draw, when Kikyou screamed again.

"I swear bitch if anything happens to her I'll kill you!" He growled out as he ran over to where Kikyou hovered in the air.

"Kikyou!" He cried out as the violet light completely covered the body of his love, hiding her from view. After a few agonizing seconds, the light began floating downwards before settling gently on the ground. As the light began to dissipate, Inuyasha hurried forward and cradled the body of his love in his arms, not noticing as the last of the light floated over to Kagome. She shivered as the light entered her body, attaching itself to her soul, making it whole once more.

"Kikyou, please wake up!" Inuyasha whispered softly to the priestess in his arms. Her eyes fluttered, then opened as she smiled up at him.

"I'm awake my love." She whispered as she pressed her lips to his, her ...warm... lips.

"Kikyou, your lips are so warm... Wait, your lips are warm! Kikyou, does that mean you're alive?" He asked incredulously. Kikyou paused for a moment, silent, but smiled ecstatically, as she felt her heart pounding in her chest for the first time in fifty years.

"Yes my love, I'm alive."

Suddenly her face contorted, her priestess powers glowing around her body as she was racked by intensely painful spasms. Kikyou whimpered softly as the bright light dimmed, grew bright again then dimmed once more. Her priestess powers continued flickering for a few minutes, growing dimmer every second until finally the light around her body was extinguished completely. When Kikyou reopened her eyes, they looked narrower and were slightly slitted, and she also had a pair of soft black ears peeking out from under her hair. Kikyou realized she had become a half-demon and screamed. Rising to her feet with an unearthly grace, Kikyou glared at the you girl who was her reincarnation.

"Do you know what you have done?" Kikyou screamed at her as she strode across the field. Kagome stood, pushing Rin and Shippou behind her for protection before facing the enraged Kikyou.

"Do you know what you have done?" Kikyou screamed once again, rage distorting her face into something monstrous.

"You've damned me to suffering for an eternity, stripped me of my place in the world and taken my very soul. Priestesses who mate with demons are shunned because they have tainted their holy powers, so what do you think people will do about a priestess who has become a demon? You have damned me to death, and I will never forgive you for it." Kikyou drew her bow, scowling when her powers did not manifest around the arrow.

"It seems you have stripped me of my powers as well, so in return I shall strip you of everything that you love. You shall know my pain, my despair and you shall suffer until I grant you the mercy of death." Kikyou's voice was a whisper as she spoke, but her voice contained so much malice that a shiver ran down Kagome's spine. With Kikyou's evil laughter in her ears, Kagome watched in disbelief as the evil priestess turned and fired off a shot, hitting Inuyasha in the shoulder.

"Come here my love." She whispered to him, beckoning with her fingers. Kagome was shocked when Inuyasha complied with the demand, walking over to stand a Kikyou's side. Kikyou withdrew the arrow from his body, then laughed as she put the arrow back to her bow.

"Inuyasha, what's wrong?" Kagome whispered as she peered into the eyes of her longtime friend. Kikyou cackled.

"He won't ever answer you again my reincarnation, I control him now. His mind, body, and soul are all mine and there is nothing you can do about it." She turned to face Inuyasha and placed a light kiss upon his lips.

"Now my love, I want you to kill them all, starting with the children." Inuyasha smiled then, an evil light shining in his eyes as he drew Tessaiga.

"Anything for you my love." He replied as he darted forward, Tessaiga held ready to attack. Kagome took off, grabbing the children and running for her life as fast as she could. Even then she knew it wouldn't be enough as she felt Inuyasha's energy gathering. Pushing the children she told them to run, then turned to face Inuyasha. He laughed then yelled out

"Wind Scar!" As the demonic energy blasted towards her, Kagome used her power to pull up a barrier but she knew it wasn't enough. Closing her eyes she waited and prayed that she had given the children enough time to flee. When a few moments had gone by, Kagome opened her eyes and saw Tenseiga floating in front of her, repelling Inuyasha's wind scar. Reaching out her hand, she grasped the sword's hilt and drew it to her chest before she turned and ran. After a few moments, she reached the clearing with the Bone Eater's Well and seeing the children crouched behind it, she stopped and faced Inuyasha, her back to the old well.

"Well well well... The little mousie is trapped now, I wonder what it's gonna do?" He chuckled evilly, a smirk on his face. Kagome held Tenseiga out in front of her, pointing it at Inuyasha as her heart broke. She couldn't fight Inuyasha, he was her best friend. But something in her wouldn't let her accept her death, something in her made her fight, made her protect the children.

"Oooh, the little mousie has fangs. Better watch where you point that sword mousie, you could hurt yourself." Inuyasha taunted Kagome as he swung Tessaiga towards her. Kagome blocked clumsily as she stepped backwards, her legs pressing against the well.

"Inuyasha, please stop it! Please fight her Inuyasha, she's controlling you somehow. I know you would never hurt me, Inuyasha. Please!" She called out to him, tears running down her cheeks. Inuyasha hesitated a moment. Then unleashed his wind scar, forcing Kagome backwards into the well. As she fell, the children's screams echoed in her ear and she forced the last bit of her energy up to them, trying to shield them from the attack. Crying, Kagome gave her body up to the light as the well pulled her into time itself.


	3. Time

Down The Well, Down Again

Chapter Three: Life

Wargh

AN: Sorry If I confused everyone with the last chapter, hopefully things will make a bit more sense after this chapter. Also I apolgize for how long it took me to get this chapter out. I just started my new job, began having asthma attacks and had writers block. This is a really short chapter, but the next one will be more exciting... I hope. Flowers and thanks go to **ArghZombies**, who has once again contributed some spectacularly helpful advice.

Kagome hit the ground hard and groaned as she opened her eyes. When she looked around, instead of the familiar interior of the Bone Eater's Well, all she saw was barren land. Standing up, Kagome brushed the dirt off of her skirt and was about to begin walking when someone called her name.

"Who's there?" Kagome replied, turning around to look behind her. When she saw no one, she sighed and started walking. After a few moments, the voice called out again.

"Kagome." Kagome turned around and this time saw a shimmering figure standing there.

"Who are you?" Kagome asked as she peered at the woman in front of her.

"I'm surprised you don't recognize me, but then again last time we met I was a statue." The woman said then sighed. Kagome froze, the only person she knew who was a statue was...

"Midoriko." Midoriko smiled sadly at her, then spoke again.

"Kagome, when you wished for Inuyasha and Kikyou to have 'eternal happiness', your anger overrode everything else and all your soul was focused on the words you spoke. Since the wish was made in anger, the Jewel was tainted, releasing the evil trapped inside."

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked softly, horror creeping into her voice.

"When you made your wish, the Jewel called the piece of your soul contained in Kikyou's body back to you. In order for Kikyou and Inuyasha to have 'eternal happiness', the Jewel had to give Kikyou a new soul, and it did, the soul of the demon I trapped inside the jewel. And now that it has been released, it is free to destroy the world once more. No one alive is powerful enough to stop it, not even you Kagome." Kagome stared at her, horrorstruck.

"What have I done?" Kagome whispered softly, fearfully, as she sank to her knees. Midoriko stepped closer to her and gently placed her hand on Kagome's head.

"Kagome, no matter what wish you made, this would have happened. No matter how pure your soul is, no one can wish on the Jewel, because all wishes are selfish to some extent. The only thing we can do now is to rectify the problem, instead of complaining about past events." Kagome looked up at her.

"But you said it yourself, no one alive is strong enough to beat him." Midoriko smile mysteriously at her.

"A long time ago, there was a man who offered to help me destroy an evil being. In my foolishness and pride I refused his offer, because I believed I was strong enough to do it myself. If I had trusted him and accepted his offer, the Jewel would not exist today, because together we would have been strong enough." Kagome's face lit up hopefully.

"So all I have to do is find him and convince him to fight?" She asked. Midoriko shook her head.

"It's not that simple. Not only is he dead during this time, when he was alive, he was given a prophecy of his death and he accepted it. You would have to find a way to circumvent the prophecy, convince him to live, and to help you." Kagome's face fell.

"I will help you all I can. I have enough of my strength left to send you to him, but you will have to find your own way back, one that doesn't change the past." Midoriko hastily reassured her. Reaching out, she took a hold of Kagome's hand, pulled her to her feet, and led her to the well.

"Kagome, when you meet, he is the only one to whom you can tell the truth. If you tell anyone else, you could irreparably damage the future. You must also warn him not to tell anyone else." Kagome nodded at her.

"How will I know who he is?" She asked.

"You will know." Midoriko said as she pushed Kagome backwards. Kagome shrieked as the backs of her knees hit the well and she fell down into time.

Kagome pulled herself out of the well, and tumbled over the edge. Landing in a heap, she sighed.

"You'd think with how many times I've done this, I could be a bit more graceful." She complained as she stood up. Suddenly the point of a sword was placed against her throat. Kagome froze and looked up at the man who was holding the sword, meeting his hard amber eyes.

"Who are you?" He growled.


End file.
